1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of garment accessories and in particular bridal accessories used to fashionably cover the arms, hands, and/or fingers of the wearer. More specifically, the field of the invention involves garment accessories wherein access to certain fingers of the wearer is desirable during the time that the garment accessory is being worn.
2. Description of Related Art
Methods and devices for garment accessories covering the arms, hands, and/or fingers of a wearer are numerous and well known in the art and are used in a variety of applications including but not limited to fashion, safety, sporting, and protective coverings. Generally, the coverings provide some added measure of functionality such as a reflective property for safety coverings, or a decorative property for fashion coverings, while being attached either directly to the wearer, or to the general garment of the wearer.
Fashion coverings such as those used as bridal accessories are generally in the form of a glove that completely cover the fingers and hand of the wearer and further traverse a portion of the arm. Without some means for access to the ring finger, the glove must be removed for placement of the ring during a wedding ceremony. Known art bridal accessory gloves that do provide access to the ring finger, such as the glove disclosed in Strongwater U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,558 or O""Guinn U.S. Pat. No. D 359,380, generally have the sheath for the ring finger completely removed, thereby leaving the entire ring finger uncovered. Other known garment accessories provide a covering, such as the sleeve disclosed in Merikoski U.S. Pat. No. D 405,587 or Thomas U.S. Pat. No. D 298,869, for the arms and a portion of the hand while leaving most of or all of the fingers exposed for subsequent access. The known art garment accessories that provide access to the fingers, however, leave the fingers uncovered and thereby detract from the overall fashion appearance.
Other known garment accessories that are attached to a wearer are generally sleeves that cover only the arm, or the arm and a portion of the hand. The sleeves are either worn together with a garment or are directly attached to the arm of the wearer, and provide various functions including fashion coverings such as Trachtenberg U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,315, reflective sleeves for safety such as Girest U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,007, and camouflage accessories for sporting activities such as Hamilton U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,589. The known garment accessories in the form of sleeves that provide access to the fingers, however, do not provide a covering for all of the fingers.
A critical limitation in the known art is the inability to provide unrestricted access to the fingers while at the same time substantially covering the fingers for an intended purpose such as a fashion covering. Furthermore, the known art requires the often awkward and cumbersome removal of the garment accessory, i.e. removal of a glove, to gain the required access to the fingers of the wearer.
A dual-purpose garment accessory is needed which is capable of providing a purposeful covering while maintaining unrestricted access to one or more fingers of the wearer without removal of the accessory. The garment accessory should also be comfortable to the wearer and simple to attach and remove.
The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art by providing a garment accessory that provides unrestricted access to the fingers of a wearer while also providing a purposeful covering. The garment accessory is a detachable sleeve that includes spaced apart elastic rings, longitudinal strips, finger retainers, and a covering. The longitudinal strips are attached to both the finger retainers and to a series of spaced apart elastic rings wherein the elastic rings are placed around the arm of the wearer. A purposeful covering such as a fashionable taffeta is attached over the top of the longitudinal strips. The finger retainers include slots for receiving the fingers that are to remain accessible and sheaths for receiving the fingers which are not accessible during subsequent use. The slots are created by interconnecting the covering between adjacent sheaths at the finger portion of the garment accessory. The cover, therefore, has both decorative and structural functionality. It shall be understood that the covering can serve many purposes including but not limited to fashion, safety, sporting, and protective coverings where unrestricted access to the fingers is desired. For example, access to certain fingers while hunting, such as the trigger finger, may be desired while maintaining a complete covering of the hands and fingers for protection from the elements or as camouflage. Furthermore, the garment accessory can be attached to a mannequin or other like equipment in addition to the arm of a person.
To attach the garment accessory, the wearer first slides a hand through the elastic rings and then progressively slides the arm through the elastic rings wherein the elastic rings traverse the arm in an upward direction. The elastic rings thereby secure the garment accessory to the arm of the wearer. The fingers are then slidably engaged with the series of finger retainers and depending on the finger(s) requiring access, certain fingers will engage a sheath and other fingers will engage a slot. The sheaths are used for fingers that do not require access and cover the end of the fingers. The slots are used for fingers that do require access and secure the fingers within the accessory without restricting access to the fingers. For example, to provide access to the ring finger during a wedding ceremony, each of the thumb, middle finger, and pinky slidably engage a sheath, and each of the ring finger and forefinger slidably engage a slot. As the decorative covering is attached to the longitudinal strips and the longitudinal strips are attached in part to the series of finger retainers, the fingers of the wearer appear to be completely covered. Because the ring finger and forefinger are inserted through a slot created by the interconnected covering, unrestricted access to the ring finger and forefinger remains. Furthermore, the decorative covering as a whole covers the arm and the hand, in addition to the fingers.
With the garment accessory attached during a wedding ceremony, the wearer is not required to remove the accessory for placement of the ring on the ring finger, thereby facilitating a more efficient and convenient ceremony while reducing the opportunity for nervous mishaps. With conventional garment accessories that completely cover the hand and fingers, the accessory must be removed for the ring portion of the ceremony, thereby creating a disruption and an inconvenience for the wearer and other participants. The present invention eliminates the need to remove the garment accessory for access to the finger while at the same time providing a fashionable means to completely cover the hand and fingers of the wearer. The garment accessory, therefore, provides unrestricted access to the desired finger(s) while maintaining a purposeful covering. Furthermore, the present invention is easy to attach and remove and is comfortable to the wearer.
Other objects and features will be apparent or are pointed out more particular herein below.